Love's Salvation
by TigerLily10
Summary: What would Anakin have said if he'd had a little more time with his son on the death star? This is my take on it! r+r!


Love's Salvation  
  
A/N: Alrighty then, this is what I think could have happened if Anakin/Vader had a little more time with his son before he died.  
  
R/R!  
  
(~(~(~(~(~(~(~(  
  
Luke lay Vader-no, his father against a wall. "Father," he whispered helplessly.  
  
His father's voice rasped back, "Help me take this mask off Luke."  
  
Luke was struck with a sudden sense of caring, "But you'll die!"  
  
"Nothing will stop that now."  
  
Luke removed the black helmet that had shielded his father's face for twenty years, protecting him from feeling, from emotion. Beneath lay a face; white for no sunlight had warmed it for years, a long scar running down his bald head.  
  
"Father."  
  
His father smiled sadly, "My son."  
  
Luke's mind flashed back to a time only hours before, and heard Leia's voice in his head, "She was very beautiful. Gentle and kind.but sad."  
  
Luke trembled as he took his father's hand, "Father, what-what was my mother like?"  
  
Anakin Skywalker's face smiled, his aged eyes bright with memory. "Your mother was an angel Luke, she was-is my everything. She was a senator, just like your sister. Senator Amidala. I fell in love with her the moment I met her. She was my angel. I met her when I was very young, a little boy on Tatooine." His eyes focused lovingly on his son's, "I wish you didn't have to live there, but you mother hid you. Hid you from me."  
  
Luke shook his head, "Not from you father. Not from Anakin Skywalker. From Vader."  
  
A tear fell down his cheek, "You're so good. Always be good Luke, always."  
  
Luke's eyes went shiny with tears to hear his father, but he had to know.  
  
"My mother, father, what happened?"  
  
Anakin grimaced a little, "I loved your mother very much. I would have given anything, anything to have her with me, to have our family together again. But, I-I couldn't save her." The tears flowed freely now, "I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't save my mother, couldn't save my angel, couldn't save anyone. Not even myself."  
  
His breathing had become ragged and he could feel his heartbeat slow. He gripped his son's hand, "Luke, take this." He pressed a button on his armoured suit, and a tiny disk came out. He handed it to his son. "It-it has memories, stories, from your mother and I. We had hoped, I had hoped, I would live to give it to you." He reached out and gripped his son's shoulder.  
  
His voice came weak and harsh, "Tell-tell your sister she was right."  
  
As he exhaled, his body went limp, and Anakin Skywalker died.  
  
Luke's tears fell unabashedly onto his father's shining armour, as he gripped the tiny disk, the only thing he had to tie himself to his parents.  
  
(~(~(~(~(~(~(~(  
  
Luke carefully inserted the tiny disk into Artoo's drive. Leia, Han, threepio stood around him.  
  
Threepio's mechanical voice sounded as the disk loaded, "Master Luke, there is something Artoo and myself would like you to know."  
  
Luke turned to face the two droids, "What is it?"  
  
Threepio shifted as uncomfortably as a droid can, "Artoo and I knew you parents."  
  
They had his full attention, "What?"  
  
The golden droid continued, "Artoo belong to your mother. And I-I was built by your father."  
  
Leia entered the conversation, "Why didn't you tell us?"  
  
Threepio took on his usual air of a pompous know-it-all, "Well sir, if anyone had known that I was made by a Sith Lord, and Artoo belonging to a disgraced Jedi's wife, then."  
  
Leia calmed the almost hysterical droid, "It's all right Threepio, we understand."  
  
A sharp whistle from Artoo caught all of their attention, and a faint hologram appeared, radiating from the little droid's emitter.  
  
An image of a beautiful woman appeared, who stood beside a handsome Jedi. She spoke, "Luke, Leia. Our children. The galaxy is a dangerous place now, and if you're watching this, then the two of us must be dead. Do not feel grief, for your father and I will always be with you."  
  
Their father stepped forward, and smiled at them, "I know you must be wondering how your mother, the great Senator Padmé Amidala came to love me, a Jedi, forbidden to love. Their mother laughed, and the strings in both Luke's and Leia's hearts pulled painfully. Anakin Skywalker continued, "We were very young when we met, and your mother was at the time Queen of Naboo, and I was a slave to the toydarian Watoo on Tatooine. I fell in love with her at first sight, and your mother thought I was just a little boy."  
  
Padmé Amidala punched him playfully, and laughing, she continued the story, "We met again, ten years later, and you father was much older, and I was Senator." Smiling up at her husband, Padmé continued lovingly, "Your father was very persistent He was forbidden to love, and I would have nothing to do with it. He was my Jedi protector, for the assassination attempts on my life were to be the beginning of what is known as the Clone War. We fell in love, your father and I, and here we are, and there you are. We love you, my darling children, and we'll never, ever forget you. You'll always be in our hearts, forever."  
  
The hologram flickered and died, and the five beings sat in silence. Leia broke it after a long pause, "Mother," she said softly.  
  
All at once, a strong gust of energy swept through them, invisible but strong. When it died down, a small pendant was left sitting on the floor, in the middle of the room. Leia picked it up, it was a small, intricate japor carving.  
  
And at that moment, the mysterious snippet brought them all together, bound more than just blood and time, but by what saved their father, what kept his heart and wife's memory alive.  
  
Love. 


End file.
